Mephisto2

Well, one could say the following.

- Arafat and the PLO brought the Palestinian crisis onto the world stage.

- When Arafat began his life, the Palestinian people were 100% disenfranchised and "stateless". Today they have their own proto-state and elected representatives.

- Arafat has reigned in some of the militants more radical groups (disagree if you want, but the facts are he did).

- Arafat is the most popular Palestinian politician (with his own people) bar none.

All of these opinions, and more, would be shared by his supporters. Many would say that his life was productive. Of course he could have done more. But I honestly think that with hard-liners on each side, little progress could have been made.

Let me finish with these "sound bites".

Israel is equally guilty of abandoning the "Roadmap for Peace" and the Oslo Accords.

Israel is guilty of a)International Law and b)Israeli Law in building its so-called security wall. I wonder if the US will support a "West Bank Airlift" like they did when the GDR and Soviet Union did something similar in a European city called Berlin.

The only Israeli PM to die at the hands of terrorism was assassinated by a extremist; an Israeli Jewish fundamentalist extremist.



I'm no fan of Palestinian terrorism, or any terrorism for that matter. Unlike 99% of this board, I've actually lived with it. Unlike the majority of this board, I have personal Palestinian and Jewish friends. Guess what? Outside the boilerhouse of Palestinian/Israeli politics, they actually tend to get on. Unlike the majority of this board, I have actually been to Israel and the West Bank.

So please, keep your attacks on my biased opinion to youself. It's not biased to support the Palestinian cause for their own state. It's not anti-semitic. It's not anti-Israeli.

Mr Mephisto